Garment



R. J. SMITH Nov. 2, 1965 GARMENT Filed Feb. 13, 1964 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,214,779 GARMENT Robert J. Smith, Swampscott, Mass., assignor to David H. Smith, Inc., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Feb. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 344,640 Claims. (Cl. 2227) The present invention relates to womens bifurcated outer nether garments, and particularly to such garments as shorts, slacks, playsuits, and the like. For purpose of illustration, the present invention will be described and illustrated as applied to womens shorts; however, it will be entirely apparent that the length and style of the leg portion of the garment is immaterial to the invention, hence its applicability to other forms of analogous garments will be obvious.

Many women find that their appearance is uncomplimentarily affected by wearing shorts, or slacks or similar garments, because of the lack of conformity between their hip and buttock contour and the cut of the garment. While this problem can be corrected by the use of a panty girdle type foundation garment under the outer garment, this remedy is generally undesirable because of the restrictive nature of such girdles for the sports activities frequently associated with the wearing of shorts and like garments. Additionally, much of the comfort derived from the wearing of shorts in hot weather would be defeated. Conventional crotchless girdles are of course unuseable with bifurcated outer garments because of interference with the crotch structure of the outer garment.

Prior efiorts to overcome the foregoing problems have been directed largely to the approach of using special or elasticized panels and/or stays in the manufacture of the shorts per se. The utility of this type of solution however is restricted by the fact that such garments are snug and form fitting, and are generally unacceptable to those women who have appearance problems in the wearing of shorts and slacks. Additionally, the fabrics of such garments are usually heavy and warm, and unsuited to sports activities in warm weather when shorts are a desirable mode of feminine attire.

The present invention overcomes, to a large measure, the foregoing problems attendant the wearing of shorts, slacks, and like garments by women. In accordance with the present invention, the bifurcated outer garment is provided with a built-in, lightweight, resiliently compressive or contour molding structure, in the form of a lining, adapted to compress a portion of the hip and buttock contour of the wearer suificiently to minimize or eliminate bulging appearances. This built-in compressive structure is essentially circumambient about the hip area of the wearer when the shorts are worn; further, it is crotchless to obviate the undesirable aspects of a panty girdle type of foundation garment; and riding up of the compressive structure is prevented or minimized by attachment to the waist band and to one or more vertical seams of the outer garment. In order to retain the compression effects of the compressive structure, the attachment of the compressive structure along said vertical seams is confined to one or two points about the garment, and each such point is limited to a narrow area, leaving upwards of about 90% or more of the circumambient expanse of the compressive structure unattached in the hip area, and free to perform its compression or molding function. Thus, the built-in compressive lining performs the molding function of a foundation garment, yet overcomes or minimizes all of the above-described disadvantages of an ordinary foundation garment; and its presence is entirely unnoticeable when the garment is worn, the garment exteriorly looking no different from one in which the compressive structure is absent.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a bifurcated outer nether garment for Women, having a built-in compressive structure for molding the hip and buttock contours of the wearer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a garment wherein said compressive structure is substantially circumambient about the hip region of the wearer.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a garment wherein the compressive structure is crotchless.

And still another object of the invention is to provide such a garment wherein the substantially circumambient and crotchless compressive structure is prevented from riding up by being secured to the outer garment along at least one vertical seam of the outer garment.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description of preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention, had in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer to like or corresponding parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of shorts embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the shorts shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detailed, vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the shorts taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view showing a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a crosssectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of FIG. 5.

The pair of shorts 10 represents an outer bifurcated garment, and is conventional in form, structure and appearance. It is fabricated from four basic panels: left and right front panels 11 and 12, and left and right rear panels 13 and 14. These panels are joined by the left and right side seams 15 and 16, inside left and right leg seams 17 and 18, and a continuous seam forming the back seam 19 which continues through the crotch 2i) and becomes the front seam 21 terminating at the base of the flly formed by the edge structures 22 and 23 of the front panels 11 and 12. The usual waist band is provided at 24.

In one embodiment of the invention to which FIGS. 1 and 2 particularly pertain, a first panel 25 of resilient fabric extends around the right side of the garment interiorly thereof, from the back seam 19 to the fly portion 23 and the front seam or a portion of the crotch seam 21. A like second panel 26 of resilient fabric extends around the left side of the garment interiorly thereof, from the back seam 19 to the left fly portion 22. Both these panels extend vertically from the waist band downwardly to a point slightly above the crotch level. These panels are incorporated in the waist band, back, and fly seam structure to become integral lining parts of the garment, but are otherwise unattached to the outer garment. Thus, the two panels 25 and 26 together extend circumambiently about the major portion of the wearers hips and buttocks between the waist and crotch level to provide a compressive structure.

The panels 25 and 26, like the outer garment per se,

are shaped to provide the usual contour of this type of feminine attire by means of darts or tapering pleats, or

gussets if desired, such as indicated at 27 in the panels 25 and 26. The compression panels 25 and 26 are cut and designed so that at the waist band 24, circumferentially about the garment the resilient panel when unstretched is the same dimension as the related outer garment panel so there is no shirring of the waist hand; however, the circumferential dimension of the compression panels becomes smaller than that of the garment as they descend from the waist toward the crotch, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, so as to effect a body compression of the wearer in these regions inside the circumferential dimensions of the outer garment. Thus, when a wearer dons shorts embodying the present invention, the resilient compression fabric panels 25 and 26 act as a crotchless lightweight fabric foundation garment, so that the outer fabric of the shorts may drape appropriately, and unsightly bulges may be avoided.

In order to avoid the crotch of the shorts, the panels and 26 are shorter in the vertical dimension than ordinary crotchless type girdles, and would be prone to ride up on the wearer. However, this is prevented by the fact that panels 25 and 26 are united to the outer shorts, particularly along the vertical seams such as back seam 19 and the respective fly sections 23 and 22.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is desired that the resilient panels 25 and 26 be resilient only in one direction, namely circumambiently about the wearer. A suitable fabric for this purpose is a loosely woven fabric having ordinary unstretchable thread along one course, and a spandex thread along the other.

Certain structural details of the garment are shown in FIGS. 3, 6, 7 and 8, to illustrate how the compression panels 25 and 26 are united with the remainder of the garment along the waist band (FIG. 3), along the back seam (FIG. 6), and along the fly sections (FIGS. 7 and 8). The panels 25 and 26 are otherwise unattached to the outer garment.

Referring to FIG. 3,the waist band 24 is formed by uniting the compression panel 25 with the outer garment panel 14 along their edges, and with an edge of a waist panel 31, by means of stitching 34. The opposite edge of the waist panel 31 is united with an edge of a waist lining or facing panel 32 by stitching 40, and a waist stiffener panel 33 is united along one edge with the opposite edge of waist lining 32 by stitching 35. The waist panel 31 is then folded on itself at 38 and again folded on itself at 39 and stitched at 37 upon itself. The lining or facing panel is folded on itself at 41 and again at 42 to sandwich the stiffener panel 33 between lining 32 and panel 31. Whereupon, two thicknesses of panel 31, panel 14, panel 25, two thicknesses of lining 32, and stiffener 33 are all secured together by stitching 36, to complete the waist band 24.

To form the back seam, panels 14 and 13 are secured respectively to panels 25 and 26 adjacent their edges forming the back seam by stitching 45 and 46. Then the seam itself is formed through both sets of panels by stitching 47.

The right fly section is formed by uniting the corresponding edges of the compression panel 25 and the front panel 12 with a finishing or facing strip 51 by means of stitching 55. A zipper strip 52 is secured to the finishing strip .51 by stitching 56 and 57. And then the assembly is folded on itself at 53 and finished by stitching 58 through finishing strip 51, panel 25, and panel 12.

The left fly section is formed by uniting the corresponding edges of panel 11 and panel 26 with a zipper strip 61 and a zipper backing strip 62 by means of stitching 67. The panels 11 and 26 are then folded on themselves at 64 and the assembly is united by outsidefinish stitching 66 through two plys each of panels 11 and 26, through the zipper strip 61, and through the zipper backing strip 62. The free edge of the zipper backing strip is united with an inside finishing strip 63 by stitching 69, and then the'finishing strip 65 is folded on itself at 65 and united to the inside edges of strip 62, strip 61, and panels 26 and 11 by inside finish stitching 68.

It is understood that the foregoing waist band, fly sections, and back seam structures are presented merely to illustrate how the compression panels 25 and 26 can be united with the outer garment along these portions. It is not intended that the present invention should be construed as limited to these specific structures.

In the above described embodiment of the invention, the compression panels 25 and 26 are secured to the outer garment along the back seam and along the two fly sections, thus securing the compression panels vertically along the rear and front of the garment when worn, and preventing the compression panels from riding up in use. By securing the compression structure to the outer garment along two diametrically oposite lines, it is apparent that a certain amount of circumambient compression action is lost. Accordingly, in the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, the structure of the shorts and compression structure is essentially the same as the previously described embodiment, except the circumambiently stretchable compression member or lining 60 is a single, or at least a continuously effective panel, unattached at the back seam 19 of the outer garment. Thus, the compression panel 60 of FIGS. 5 and 9 is attached to the outer shorts only along the waist band 24 and the two fly sections 22 and 23. The attachment to the two fly sections may be considered in its broader aspects as attached either at two closely spaced areas of the garment, or at but a single line on the garment, because when worn the two fly sections may be considered as but one seam section for practical purposes. Along the waist band 24, as in the preceding embodiment, the dimension of panel 60 corresponds with that of the outer garment, while the circumambient dimension of the panel 60 is less than that of the outer garment below the waist line, as in the preceding embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 9.

In this manner, with no interruption in the circumambient compression action of the continuous panel 60 extending from the left fly section 22 completely around the inside of the garment to the right fly section, a most effective and efficient action is obtained in molding the contour of the wearers hips and buttocks. Attachment of the end edges of the panel 60 along the fly sections is effective in preventing the compression member from riding up on the wearer, as above described.

The completely circumambiently compressive panel 60 may be formed of a single piece of fabric of the type suggested for panels 25 and 26, or it may be pieced together from more than one panel, as desired. In either event it is appropriately contoured by darts or the like to conform generally with the desired female contour outline.

It is obvious that attachment of the compression panel 60 along only the front fly (or one seam section) of the outer garment is not going to afford as effective a restraint against riding up of the compression panel as is obtained when the panel (or panels) is secured both front and rear,

as in FIG. 1. Thus, the two embodiments represent compromise choices: One may obtain maximum hold down effects by using two opposed areas of attachments of the compression panel (or panels) to the outer garment at the expense of some effectiveness in contour molding, as in FIG. 1; or one may obtain maximum contour molding effects by using one area of attachment at the expense of some effectiveness in the hold-down aspects of the invention, as in FIG. 5. i

It will thus be appreciated that a womans bifurcated outer nether garment has been provided by the present invention, which affords an effective compression structure for molding the hip and buttock contour of the wearer, without resort to a parity girdle type of structure. As a result, the garment will afford a better appearance for the wearer, without imposing the restraints and discomforts of a conventional foundation garment.

It is understood that the foregoing description of specific embodiments of the invention are presented as illustrative only, to enable one to comprehend fully the nature of the invention, and many changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes, variations and modifications of the invention as are embraced by the spirit and scope of the appended claims are contemplated as within the purview of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A womans bifurcated nether garment, comprising in combination an outer garment having a waist section, a hip section, and a crotch, and a crotchless lining within said outer garment extending substantially circumambiently thereabout formed of a resiliently stretchable fabric for molding the contour of a wearer in an area between the waist and crotch of the wearer, said lining being united to said outer garment along the waist section and extending downwardly therefrom over at least a substantial portion of the hip section and terminating above the crotch, said lining being further secured to said outer garment along a narrow area running downwardly from the waist section substantially to the bottom of said lining, said lining being otherwise unsecured to said outer garment, the circumambient dimension of said lining around said garment being substantially equal to that of the outer garment at said waist section and substantially less than the outer garment in said hip section.

2. A womans bifurcated nether garment, comprising in combination an outer garment having a waist section, a hip section, and a crotch, and a crotchless lining within said outer garment extending susbtantially circumambiently thereabout formed of a resiliently stretchable fabric for molding the contour of a wearer in an area between the waist and crotch of the wearer, said lining being united to said outer garment along the waist section and extending downwardly therefrom over at least a substantial portion of the hip section and terminating above crotch, said lining being further secured to said outer garment along two narrow areas each running downwardly from the waist section substantially to the bottom of said lining, said lining being otherwise unsecured to said outer garment, the circumambient dimension of said lining around said garment being substantially equal to that of the outer garment at said waist section and substantially less than the outer garment in said hip section.

3. A garment as set forth in claim 2, wherein said two narrow areas are seam areas of said outer garment.

4. A garment as set forth in claim 1, wherein said narrow area is a seam area.

5. A garment as set forth in claim 4, wherein said outer garment includes a fiy structure and said seam area is said fly structure.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,102,323 12/37 Kneibler 2-224 X 2,387,405 10/45 Neilson 2227 2,493,400 1/50 Gilbert 2227 2,854,669 10/58 Cohen 267 3,068,871 12/62 Rapp 128519 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,102,642 5/55 France. 1,274,815 9/61 France.

ROBERT V. SLOAN, Primary Examiner.

JORDON FRANKLIN, Examiner. 

1. A WOMAN''S BIFURCATED NETHER GARMENT, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION AN OUTER GARMET HAVING A WAIST SECTION, A HIP SECTION, AND A CROTCH, AND A CROTCHLESS LINING WITHIN SAID OUTER GARMENT EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCUMAMBIENTLY THEREABOUT FORMED OF A RESILIENTLY STRETCHABLE FABRIC FOR MOLDING THE CONTOUR OF A WEARER IN AN AREA BETWEEN THE WAIST AND CROTCH OF THE WEARER, SAID LINING BEING UNITED TO SAID OUTER GARMENT ALONG THE WAIST SECTION AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM OVER AT LEAST A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THE HIP SECTION AND TERMINATING ABOVE THE CROTCH, SAID LINING BEING FURTHER SECURED TO SAID OUTER GARMENT ALONG A NARROW AREA RUNNING DOWNWARDLY FROM 